24 September 2012

October is rapidly approaching, and, in honor of it almost being Halloween month, I present you with a scary story...

Seriously, if you have ever planted ivy in your yard, you are an a-hole. You're not going to live in that house forever, and you are leaving someone else a HUGE situation. Ivy grows, and grows, and grows. AND GROWS. Around your house, up your house, underneath your siding, INSIDE your house. Don't be surprised if, late at night, when all is quiet... you can actually hear the ivy growing and growing and slowly taking over your house. It wants you.

It starts with a basement window....

There is even a requisite red-herring creeper...

She starts off subtle, then makes herself known....

Seriously, though, this stuff is a nightmare. It creeps and creeps, and its roots wrap all the way around your house, under your porch, seriously UP the INSIDE of your siding... All the while growing into any nook or cranny it can find, holding on for dear life with little tentacle feet. Think I'm joking? Go ahead and plant some in your yard.

Brad and I spent three hours hacking, yanking, digging, and, ultimately, lawn mowing over our front "garden" to clear out the main section - and the root source for most of the vining that wraps around the house.

Before.

During.

Sidenote to point out that these vines turned me into a crazy person for three hours. I was SO MAD at them, and at whoever planted them... I was grunting and groaning and yelling and swearing at them as I hacked away with my rake, shovel, and bare hands.

After!

Happy Churches!

Standing in our front garden for the first time EVER.

Alas... this is just step one. The ivy is growing all along both sides of our house as well (although I did, in my rage, disconnect all the vines that were growing up and into our house), so that's work for another day. And, of course, we have more roots to dig up... Perhaps we'll just poison the heck out of it! It deserves it! Then dirt. Mulch. And maybe some trees or bushes. NO IVY.